The present invention relates to rodent bait stations in general, and to bait stations configured to retain sachet baits in particular.
Rodents such as mice and rats are a significant hazard to human populations, and can spread disease and consume or spoil stored commodities. Palatable rodent baits laced with appropriate rodenticide can effectively control these pests. However, in order to restrict access to the poisonous rodenticide compounds, the baits are restrained within rodent bait stations—containers which allow the admission of the targeted rodent species, but which can provide physical obstacles to access to the contained bait by children or non-targeted animals such as pets or livestock.
Soft baits are various compounds which have a soft consistency, and may omit the usual paraffin composition which allows a bait to take on a definite structure. To restrain the bait within a bait station, the soft bait is contained within a paper package or bag which is easily tearable and which is permeable allowing the escape of aromas, permiting the targeted rodents to readily identify the palatable contents. Conventional soft bait has dynamic viscosity of 1×108 cP, i.e., a putty-like consistency. Dynamic viscosity in the SI derived unit is measured in grams/(cm·sec) or poise, more commonly expressed, particularly in ASTM standards, as centipoise (cP). Where peanut butter is about 250,000 cP and window putty is 1×108 cP, at room temperature i.e., 20° C.
Conventionally, the soft bait and its surrounding bag are held within a bait station by piercing the bait and bag with a spike or narrow-diameter rod which is fixed within the bait station. The bag keeps the contained bait supported on the rod until accessed by the rodent. Even should the bag contents lose its consistency due to the influence of the elevated temperatures which can be encountered in temperate climates, the bag retains the contents mounted to the rod. Another known station uses an array of multiple molded plastic pins extending from the bait station base and lid to engage the bag.
However, when rodents encounter the bait bag, they will gnaw through the paper packaging to access the bait within. If the torn paper bag is not well retained on the central spike or array of pins, it may readily be removed from the bait station either in pieces or as a whole. These scraps of paper can then be strewn around the vicinity of the station in an unsightly or unsanitary fashion. What is needed is an arrangement which takes advantage of the benefits of packaged soft bait while limiting the escape of paper components from a bait-containing station.